A Friendly Wager
by Insaneiac The Maniac
Summary: Lloyd has spent the last year after reuniting the worlds being haunted by Mithos. But, a friendly wager threatens to change it all. Mithoyd...read at your own risk. Shounen ai


**Insaneiac: Hah-ha! I knew this would one day happen. –Hits brain with a baseball bat- So, for the eyes of everyone that reads my stuff and aren't mature enough to contemplate the fact that this is drastically different, the following is important. This is not straight in the slightest. This is Shounen-ai, better translated to BOY LOVE. If you're expecting a piece of Insaneiac straightness, you will not find it here. Anyways, this idea came to me whilst I was chatting with Anima Sage Kurai and, upon laughing at myself for thinking it up…it ended up growing and growing. Like some evil, super weed. Anyways, since struggling with it was proving to tire my mind and draining my mind…I decided to write it. And hey, if you don't like it, you're allowed that. It's your right. **

_Summary: Lloyd has spent the last year after reuniting the worlds being haunted by Mithos. But, a friendly wager threatens to change it all. (Mithoyd…or Lloythos. Take your pick.) (SPOILERS: Do not read if you haven't beaten the game)_

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, Namco does. And after this, I doubt they'll even give me a passing glance.

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­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Tales of Symphonia: A Friendly Wager

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It had been a very long year for Lloyd Irving Aurion.

For everyone else, the year went by swimmingly it seemed. Sheena had been in blissful heaven traveling with Lloyd, helping to purge the world of the exsphere menace. Raine had all the time in the world to investigate ruins with her own personal assistant, that being the former leader of the Renegades. Yuan, in turn, had been given the chance to live a happy life with the teacher, now residing in Iselia and acting as the militia captain. Zelos and Colette had just gotten married a few of weeks ago, and were currently in the midst of traveling the worlds. To Lloyd, the fact that the single biggest opposites in the world actually went and got hitched never ceased to amuse him. He had to wonder though, was Zelos going to become a much more innocent man, or was Colette going to become an absolute pervert. It disturbed him to no end, however, that Yuan actually started a bet with Sheena over which would win.

So far, if Zelos blew it and became a good little boy, Sheena was going to end up owing close to twenty three thousand gald. Inwardly, and despite the fact that if Sheena ever found out, she'd beat him into a coma, Lloyd was hoping for Yuan to pull out a victory in this one. He just could not imagine little, innocent Colette making perverted comments about Zelos or other men. In all honesty, it horrified him to no end. On a much lighter not, Regal had legally adopted Presea as his daughter, since he just could not bring himself to let her go on alone in life. With Regal and Genis by her side, Presea was actually beginning to become a real girl, wearing a warm smile that could have only been inspired by Colette. She even began to laugh, though mostly at Genis' attempts to be macho. Obviously, he had been taking advice from the single worse "role model possible."

And what about himself? Why was Lloyd so miserable? He was spending it with the girl of his dreams, and was doing everything in his power to purge the world of the horrors that were exspheres. The two of them had even shared a bed a while back when they visited Luin. Even Zelos considered Lloyd to be, and to the best of his memory Lloyd was sure this was how he put it, "the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet." The statement confused him though, since it really was only because the other bed had mysteriously burst into flames the minute Lloyd turned around. Still, sleeping with that angel of a woman in his arms was amazing.

So what had him so depressed?

Why had he asked Sheena, just yesterday prior, to wait for him at Flanoir? She had agreed, though a little worried that something was wrong with her close friend.

And why was he sitting in the center of some Martel forsaken forest, on a random log, massaging his temples tenderly. What was powerful enough to cause the Eternal Swordsman enough stress and tension that he actually had to sit and massage his head in the middle of absolutely nowhere in an attempt to relieve the stress?

"What's the matter? Got a headache? Is little Lloyd in pain?" A childlike voice mocked from beside him.

That would be the reason right there.

"Go away Mithos." Lloyd muttered, as though it were a second nature to him.

"But Lloyd, you look so lonely right now." Mithos teased, sitting down beside him on the log. "What's wrong?"

"Like you care."

"Why wouldn't I? Do you really think I don't care?"

Lloyd turned his head slowly to Mithos, giving him an un-amused glare. Aside from the fact that Lloyd knew he didn't exist, it looked as though Mithos was sitting right beside him in the flesh. He was even sure he could smell the little brat. Though he really could define the actual smell of Mithos, he knew that it wasn't the forest and it wasn't him.

"Aw, who am I kidding Lloyd. You know me too well." Mithos replied, sneering at Lloyd. Had this been a year prior, Lloyd would have taken a swing at him. However, the three hundred and sixty five days of being haunted and trying to un-haunt himself through any means possible have finally left him with the realization that no matter what he tried, Mithos was here to stay. At least until he pushed Lloyd to the point where he would simply bash his head in with a rock to make Mithos stop.

"It could be worse." Lloyd muttered, waving his hand in the air. "You could be Kvar." Lloyd paused for a moment, grinning. "On second thought, that might be better." He could hear Mithos sucking in his breath at the comment. Lloyd could literally feel the enraged ghost's eyes burning into the side of his head.

"You…arrogant…" Mithos began, his voice raised in tone.

"Not so fun is it?" Lloyd shot back shifting his head just enough to see Mithos glaring at him. "What? You going to feed me another "inferior being" lecture. Or, is this going to be another speech on how I am above my friends and I should be ruling this world. Maybe you'll force me to watch another of your happy memories." Lloyd listed off, a smirk resting on his face. He found his smirk fading when Mithos nodded approvingly.

"I think you're coming along nicely. Give me a little while longer Lloyd…and I'll mold you into the perfect leader."

"Not before I destroy the rest of your exspheres. No age of lifeless beings for you."

"So? Think about it like this Lloyd. You'll live just as long as I have, and longer. What's to stop me…and you…from starting over again?"

"Why do you even care about me? I'm a human; you're a half-elf! You hate my people!"

"But Lloyd, you're not just a human anymore, just like I was no longer really a half-elf when I created Cruxis." Mithos explained. The danger with Mithos Yggdrasill was that he was a master of speech. Lloyd remembered watching Genis struggle against his soft words, almost deserting Lloyd and his friends to join with the half-elf. Mithos had fooled their entire party in the very beginning, once more with soft spoken words that played on the right emotions of the group. As deadly a fighter as he was, Mithos was just as deadly a speaker.

"So, what you're trying to say is?" Lloyd had never managed to get this far with Mithos before, usually refusing to listen any further or being interrupted by Sheena. Ultimately, that was why he asked to be alone. So he could finally confront and find out what Mithos meant.

"We are above both." Mithos began, leaning backwards and staring up into the sky. "Sure, we favor our respective races, but you and I Lloyd are above them all. And with my help, you'll realize that you need to stop caring about trying to get people to accept peace and tolerance, and begin forcing them." The way he finished his statement caused shivers to rip up Lloyd's spine. Quickly, Lloyd turned to both his trump card and saving grace. He was going to tell her everything when he got to Flanoir, going to confide in her his darkest secret. The only other person who knew at that point was Genis, and that was because he knew he could trust him completely.

"Sheena will help me through this. You'll see. You are nothing more than a phase and a ghost. As Genis put it, a figment of my imagination." Lloyd shot back dryly as he tapped his head with his finger, not paying any heed to Mithos as he feigned injury. In many ways, he owed his still secure sanity to Genis Sage, whose advice had more than likely stopped him from knocking himself into a coma. However, it left him a little disturbed at how Genis seemed to get extra careful with Lloyd after finding out.

"But Lloyd…I can help you much more than she can. She doesn't understand people like you…people like us."

That did it. Lloyd jumped from the log and spun to face Mithos, anger burning intensely in his eyes. He swiped the air in front of him with his hand, signifying denial and disagreement. "SHUT UP!" Lloyd screamed as loud as he could. "You and I are nothing alike. You are a freak and a villain! I am a good-guy, a hero!"

"Lloyd, you are so cute when you're in denial." Mithos chimed, cutting Lloyd down in his tracks. "I've been with you long enough to know how you feel. I've seen those darker thoughts and regrets. You think you can hide it so well Lloyd, but you can't." Truth be told, the day after he regenerated the worlds, Mithos had come to him while he was out in the field practicing. Lloyd, being Lloyd, charged at the specter only to miss and take a dive face first into a tree. After recovering from the pain and the embarrassment of having your mortal enemy laughing his head off at you, Lloyd tried again. He spent the next hour pushing himself back up onto his feet with each unsuccessful attack. Finally, after the repeated attempts at trying to impale Mithos…again, Lloyd just rested on the ground, face staring at the grass to avoid staring at the little blond villain.

------ One Year Ago, a Field outside Iselia ------

_Lloyd was staring up into Mithos' sapphire eyes, completely unable to even get up, or tear his gaze away from the half-elf that, by all accounts and truths of the universe, should be dead. He should be trying to take hell over with Kvar and Forcystus right now, not standing in above him and gazing into his eyes, taunting him without even uttering a word._

"_Aw Lloyd. Come on. You're not giving up that easily, are you?"_

"_What the hell are you doing here? I killed you!"_

"_If you killed me, than why I am here Lloyd? You're so stupid, do you know that?"_

"_And you aren't really here. It's all in my head. I know it is."_

"_Aw Lloyd…you're so cute when your ignorant." _

_Lloyd's head whipped from the grass to see Mithos kneeling right in front of him and staring down into his eyes, his full, sapphire eyes burning ruthlessly into his. "What did you just say?" Lloyd asked slowly, just not processing what Mithos had said._

"_I said you're cute when you're ignorant. However, I think the shocked Lloyd is just a little bit cuter." Mithos continued, smiling eerily at the brown haired swordsman. _

"_You…are a freak. Do you know that? A freak!" Lloyd growled, swinging his sword at Mithos. However, before the swing had finished, Mithos had vanished and left him all alone to dwell over that fact that his mortal enemy, his exact opposite in life, had just made a "pass" on him._

------ Present Day ------

"Would you stop calling me cute, you freak." Lloyd muttered, his intensity upended and replaced with an unsteadied voice. He didn't know what disturbed him more, the fact that a creepy little half-elf that should be dead thought he was cute, or the fact that he was beginning to get used to the creepy little half-elf that should be dead calling him cute. "It's…weird."

"Aww, what's so weird about it Lloyd?" Mithos asked, feigning innocence. The look in his eyes was enough to force Lloyd to start walking away. "Maybe what's weird is that you like it?" Mithos was quick to scoot to the left as a sword embedded itself in the log where he had been sitting. "Oh…getting all feisty now Lloyd?"

"Why are you doing this?" Lloyd growled, turning around to face Mithos. He walked towards the half-elf until there were no more than a handful of inches in between them. Mithos himself stood up on the log, bringing his eyes onto the same level as Lloyd. "Why can't you just let me be? You lost. You don't exist anymore. Go away!"

"I'm doing this, little Lloyd, because I know how you feel." Mithos spoke, and for the first time in the year that he had haunted Lloyd, it was sincere. "Lloyd, I have a proposition for you…a wager if you will." Lloyd almost cringed at the smile that found itself onto Mithos' face.

"…I'm listening…" Lloyd spoke tentatively. It further unnerved him when he saw Mithos' smile widen.

"If I can prove to you that I exist… that I am standing right here in front of you, than you have to do me a favor of my choosing. If I can't prove my existence to you, then I'll leave you alone, forever." Mithos offered, smiling. He watched Lloyd eye him cautiously, his smile never breaking. "I'll swear that on the Eternal Sword Lloyd. If I can not prove my existence, right here and now, to you, then I'll head off to hell. On my honor as a half-elf."

'_This is too easy Lloyd. Don't forget, this is Mithos. He has never played fair.' **'But what could he do? He isn't there, you know it. Genis told you, he exists only in your mind. He stood right in front of Sheena once and she saw nothing at all.' **'It's Mithos. We thought he was dead once, and he just came back later…almost stole Sheena's soul from you too.' **'At the worse, if he's right, than you owe him a favor. But when he fails Lloyd, you'll be free of him too.**_

Lloyd let a long breath out, closing his eyes ever so briefly as he reserved himself to his decision. Opening them again, Lloyd was staring back into the half-elf's eyes. "Fine then. But you absolutely swear to leave once you fail."

"Lloyd, if I fall short, not only will I leave, but I'll take ever trace of my time over the last year with you. It'll be as if I never existed after that fight." Mithos replied, smiling sweetly. "I swear on my sister's taintless honor." It was that sincerity that Mithos had that was the final piece of assurance he need. Despite the fact that this was Mithos, Lloyd knew that this was really his only chance to be free of the menace that was Mithos. Sighing, Lloyd pulled the blade out of the log, and sheathed the blade. He gave Mithos a once over with his eyes, just in case he had something hiding on him. Sucking in a deep breath, Lloyd relaxed his shoulders and let his arms fall limp to his side, stretching them out ever so slightly.

"Well then, do your worse Mithos. The sooner I'm free of you, the sooner I-"Lloyd began, seconds before the gap between them evaporated. Lloyd's eyes shot open as wide as they have ever been as he felt the younger looking half-elf's lips planted firmly on his own. It took him a while to realize the first major shocker of it all. He was in the midst of kissing Mithos Yggdrasill, the person single most responsible for almost every bad thing to happen to the worlds. He was the sole responsible person for the creation of the Desians, for Kvar. This was the person that tried to turn Colette into his own sister, and tried to drive a wedge in-between himself and Genis, his best friend. Suddenly, Lloyd pulled away, falling backwards and landing on his backside with a thump. His hand shot to his lips, touching them as if checking to see for any wounds or blood. That was when horrifying realization number two set in.

"You…kissed me." Lloyd muttered, horrified. His eyes were the widest they have ever been, but surprisingly enough, they were locked solid with Mithos' eyes. "You…you're a…guy…WHAT THE HELL!" Lloyd screamed as he backed away from Mithos, moving until his back met the rough bark of a tree. His first kiss, and it was stolen from him by not only his opposite, but a guy nonetheless

"Wow Lloyd. Your powers of observation never cease to amaze me." Mithos taunted, pushing off of the log and almost skipping towards Lloyd. "Yup, I kissed you alright. And judging from how long it took you to, well, react…I'm going to go right ahead and assume that you liked it."

"You were sick before when you were calling me cute. Now you're just a twisted freak!" Lloyd growled, throwing his arm in front of him to try and keep Mithos away. However, this came off as an action of fear rather than fight. Throwing his head to the side, Lloyd closed his eyes tightly and began to try and will Mithos away. "Just stay the hell away from me dammit!" Lloyd roared. When he felt his hand grasped with Mithos' own. It was about then at horrible realization number three set in, and this was by far the worse of them all. "Mithos…I can feel your hand…why the hell can I feel your hand." Lloyd whimpered. Yes, he had already kissed him, but it really didn't sink in until he felt his hand grasp his own. Stranger still, it had a lively warmth to it, almost comforting.

He felt the half-elf's fingers mix in between his own, closing around his palm tightly. Lloyd cringed at the strength of the former Cruxis leader, cringed at the fact that he could feel the strength of the former Cruxis angel. He whimpered pathetically as he felt the half-elf move his extended arm backwards, pressing it against the side of the tree as he sat down on his lap, resting his head on Lloyd's shoulder, leaving his lips just beyond the reach of his ear. His other hand buried itself into Lloyd's brown hair, clenching the boy's hair gently.

"Now…about that favor you owe me."

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A/N: There it is, in all its total ground breaking grandeur. My first and most likely only shounen-ai one shot. Hopefully I managed to make this seemingly believable and yes, the ending is a total tease. One of my meanest ever if I do say so my self. Now then…that being said…I am off to take a dunk into cold, cold water. I will say that, despite the shift from my more usual straight pairings, writing this was fun. I've always been a fan on post game Lloyd and Mithos-ism. Maybe not in this particular form, but I always figured that Mithos would, in a matter of speaking, live on through Lloyd. 


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